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KINSHASA Thu Jan 2, 2014 (Reuters) - Heavy gunfire rang out from an airport in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a Reuters witness in Kinshasa said on Thursday, days after an attack on the main airport. The small arms fire was heard coming from the Ndolo airport and lasted for about 20 minutes, the witness said. "The guards said they noticed suspicious movements next to some shops. That's what justified the firing that was heard," government spokesman Lambert Mende told Reuters. On Monday, Congolese forces killed dozens of armed youths who attacked the main international airport, a barracks and a state television centre in incidents claimed by a disgruntled religious leader.

More than 300 migrants have been saved from rough waters in separate incidents off the coasts of Italy and Greece. The Italian navy said it picked up 233 people, mostly from African countries, who had been stuck in an "overcrowded" vessel south of Sicily. Meanwhile Greek coast guards rescued 85 migrants off the island of Astypalaia. Every year thousands of African and Arab migrants fleeing war and poverty risk their lives trying to reach the Europe. Greece and Italy are both main entry points for those who attempt to make the dangerous sea crossing. In October more than 400 people drowned in two shipwrecks near the Italian island of Lampedusa. Many of them were from Eritrea and Somalia, but the...

For the few plant breeders in Africa like Vivian Oduro, working for an international research institution is an obvious choice, with prestige and benefits any agricultural scientist would find hard to decline. But Oduro - a sweet potato breeder - is staying put. She will use her expertise in Africa for the farmers with whom she now shares a special bond because she understands their challenges intimately. A PhD student at the prestigious West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) in the Ghanaian capital, Oduro is part of a group of new thinkers in crop breeding who see fresh opportunities in Africa. "Working overseas is attractive, but so is Africa when you understand what needs to be done," Oduro told...

KINSHASA Thu Jan 2, 2014 (Reuters) - The colonel in charge of military operations against insurgents in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo was killed on Thursday in an ambush by the ADF-NALU, a Ugandan rebel group, the government said. Colonel Mamadou Ndala, who helped to secure the military defeat of the powerful M23 rebel movement in November, died of his wounds after a rocket attack on his vehicle near the village of Mavivi in North Kivu province. His killing highlighted the challenge facing the Congolese government and a 21,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission in their efforts to pacify dozens of armed groups operating in the mineral-rich east of the vast central African nation. "Colonel Mamadou Ndala was killed in a ambush...

KINSHASA Thu Jan 2, 2014 (Reuters) - The colonel in charge of military operations against rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo was killed on Thursday in an ambush along with three other soldiers, government spokesman Lambert Mende said. Colonel Mamadou Ndala, who helped to secure the military defeat of the M23 rebel group in November, died of his injuries after a rocket attack on his vehicle near the village of Mazizi in North Kivu province, Mende said. His killing indicated the challenge facing the Congolese government and a 21,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission in its efforts to pacify dozens of armed groups operating in the east of the vast central African nation. "Colonel Mamadou Ndala has just passed away," Mende...

German diplomat Martin Kobler became head of the world’s largest United Nations mission (MONUSCO) four months ago. No easy task in the DRC, a country that has been at war for almost 20 years. It's midday in December in the village of Bweremana in eastern DRC. Some 4,000 former milita fighters stand on a football pitch in the blazing sun, together with their families. They are waiting for Martin Kobler, head of the world's largest UN military mission: the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO). It comprises some 20,000 UN troops. Kobler arrives by helicopter and walks towards the rebels who have just surrendered. His manner is friendly. "Good day, I am Martin Kobler, head...

The China-Africa Development Fund, the nation’s largest equity fund focused on African investments, will raise another $2 billion in 2014 to boost the continent’s agricultural and steel sectors and upgrade its industrial development. Chi Jianxin, president of the fund, said China has been looking to invest in different ways in Africa instead of focusing only on building infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, ports and cement plants. The fund became operational in 2007, with a target of raising $5 billion. It raised an initial $1 billion, with a second tranche of $2 billion being contributed by the China Development Bank in 2012. “With a large number of young workers and abundant natural resources, African countries have good opportunities to capitalize...

ROME Thu Jan 2, 2014 (Reuters) - The Italian navy has rescued 233 mostly African migrants from a 10 meter (yard) boat in Mediterranean waters south of Sicily as the immigration crisis that killed hundreds in shipwrecks in 2013 showed no signs of letting up in the new year. The navy picked them up in choppy seas late on Wednesday and was ferrying them on Thursday to a port near Syracuse on Sicily's eastern coast, a statement said. On board were men and women from Eritrea, Nigeria, Somalia, Zambia and Mali as well as from Pakistan, the navy said. Sea arrivals to Italy from Northern Africa more than tripled in 2013, fuelled by refugees from Syria's civil war and political...

Researchers had developed the first non-invasive method of detecting malaria infection using a laser beam scanner. The painless test appears to be 100 percent accurate and does not require using any blood.Currently, the gold standard of malaria testing is examining a blood smear under the microscope for evidence of the deadly parasite. A diagnosis requires trained technicians, expensive equipment and time, things that are not always available in poorer and more remote parts of the world. But so-called "vapor nanobubble" technology would eliminate the need to draw any blood. It only requires an individual to place a finger on a laser device, according to Dmitri Lopotko, a researcher with the department of biochemistry and cell biology at Rice University in...

After crossing numerous hurdles to reach Europe, many refugees from Africa think their arrival on European soil is the end to their struggles. They soon realise that many more challenges still lie ahead. 20 year-old Sara Mohamed sits in a class with ten other young refugees. Today's lesson is German. Wearing a long, dark headscarf, Sara jokes, laughs heartily and gives the correct answer to questions posed by the teacher. Looking at her, you would not know what she has been through to be in Germany today. At the age of 15 Sara left her home country Somalia to embark on a long and dangerous journey. "I was very young and it was very hard for me but it is...

(CNN) -- Armed forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo beat back dozens of gunmen who stormed three key locations in the capital Monday. Armed men attacked the country's airport, state TV headquarters and army headquarters in Kinshasa. At least 34 assailants were killed, according to an Interior Ministry statement. The statement called on "victims of this terrorist attack ... to know that the assailants had no other purpose than to create panic and terror on the eve of celebrations so important to our culture." In response, it said that security had been beefed up in the capital. African Union Commission Chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma condemned the attacks, stressing the AU's commitment to support Congolese efforts to consolidate peace, security and stability.

The African Union has threatened targeted sanctions against those inciting the violence in South Sudan and hampering international efforts to negotiate an end to the two-week outburst of fighting that risks drawing in the wider region. At a meeting in Gambia in West Africa, the AU said late on Monday it was dismayed by the bloodletting that has already killed more than a thousand people in the world's youngest country. "(Council) expresses its intention to take appropriate measures, including targeted sanctions, against all those who incite violence, including along ethnic lines, continue hostilities (and) undermine the envisaged inclusive dialogue," the AU's Peace and Security Council said. On Tuesday South Sudanese troops fought rebels believed to be loyal to former Vice...

KINSHASA, December 30, 2013 (AFP) - Airlines have halted all flights into and out of Kinshasa, travel companies said Monday, after gunmen attacked the airport. Kinshasa airport was among several high-profile targets in a wave of coordinated attacks by armed rebels against symbols of power in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

KINSHASA, December 30, 2013 (AFP) - Congolese security forces repelled a wave of coordinated attacks against symbols of power in the capital Kinshasa and other cities on Monday, leaving dozens of assailants dead in a day of fierce gunbattles. Armed youths believed to be loyal to a pastor who challenged President Joseph Kabila in elections seven years ago stormed the state television station RTNC and took several reporters hostage. Gunfire erupted at the RTNC premises near parliament as well as the international airport and the main military base in Kinshasa, causing panic among residents. "We were subjected to well-orchestrated attacks in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Kindu," a government source said, but added: "The situation is under control everywhere." Kinshasa has mostly...

The Democratic Republic of Congo's army has repulsed several attacks in the capital, Kinshasa, by an "unknown terrorist group", the government says. The state TV headquarters, the international airport and a military base in the city were all targeted. The information minister said the situation was now under control and about 46 attackers had been killed. Meanwhile, the army has also clashed with unknown gunmen on the outskirts of Lubumbashi, a military spokesman said. He told the BBC that some of the attackers in Lubumbashi, the main city of DR Congo's southern mineral-rich Katanga province, had been arrested. Congolese security officers position themselves as they secure the street near the state television headquarters (C) in the capital Kinshasa, 30 December...

Officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo say government troops have beaten back armed attacks at three locations around the capital, killing close to 40 attackers and capturing several more. Government spokesman Lambert Mende says scores of gunmen attacked Monday the international airport, state television station and army headquarters in Kinshasa. He says several attackers were killed at each of the three locations. Mende described the attackers as "terrorists" but says they have not yet been identified. He said the attacks appeared to have no purpose except to disrupt this week's New Year's celebrations. "The government calls on the people of Kinshasa, victims of this terrorist aggression - since we do not have the impression that the assailants had any...

A government spokesman in the Democratic Republic of Congo says government troops have regained control of several areas of the capital that came under attack Monday, and security forces have killed 40 of the attackers. Spokesman Lambert Mende said scores of gunmen attacked the international airport, state television station and army headquarters in Kinshasa. He says several attackers were killed at each of the three locations. Earlier reports in the DRC capital said gunfire had erupted in various parts of Kinshasa, and gunmen had taken reporters hostage at the state television station. The gunmen appeared on the air and made anti-government comments before the television feed was cut. Heavy gunfire was also heard at Congo's international airport, and gunmen opened...

KINSHASA Mon Dec 30, 2013 (Reuters) - Congolese soldiers repulsed attacks on the airport, a barracks and the state television headquarters in Kinshasa on Monday in what authorities said appeared to have been an assault by followers of religious leader Paul Joseph Mukungubila. Before transmission was shut down at the state television, gunmen shouted what appeared to be a political message against President Joseph Kabila, who took office in 2001 after the assassination of his father Laurent. Government spokesman Lambert Mende said 40 of the 70 assailants in the capital had been killed. "We have total control of the situation," he said. "The attackers presented themselves as supporters of Mukungubila. We are checking because this could be an attempt to...

KINSHASA, December 30, 2013 (AFP) - Forty people who took part in an uprising Monday in Kinshasa, taking hostages and firing at the airport and a military headquarters, have been killed, the DR Congo government said. "There were 16 who fell at the airport, eight who died at the RTNC (national radio and television) premises and 16 at the general staff headquarters," government spokesman Lambert Mende told AFP. "No civilian casualties have been reported and no victims in the security forces."

KINSHASA Mon Dec 30, 2013 (Reuters) - Congo's army clashed on Monday with followers of religious leader Paul Joseph Mukungubila in the eastern mining city of Lubumbashi, an official in the governor's office said, hours after his supporters attacked targets in the capital. Witnesses said the clashes erupted after government troops attacked Mukungubila's church in the center of Lubumbashi, in Congo's copper-rich Katanga province. Gunmen saying they were supporters of Mukungubila had briefly seized control of state television headquarters in Kinshasa earlier on Monday.